‘Tales from the Darkside’ — The Ultimate Star-Studded Horror Anthology of the 90s
Tyler Doupe'
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I hear a lot of praise for films like Creepshow, Trick ‘r Treat, and V/H/S. But I don’t see nearly as much love for John Harrison’s punchy and enjoyable Tales from the Darkside: The Movie. While Tales from the Darkside isn’t as impressive as the aforementioned titles, it is, nonetheless, a star-studded affair with tremendous effects work.
With today (May 4th) being the film’s 32nd anniversary, I cannot think of a better time than the present to sing the praises of this enjoyable collection of vignettes.
Following in the footsteps of contemporaries like Tales from the Crypt, this adaptation delivers a morality lesson with each vignette. This lends a somewhat fairy tale-esque quality to the property. In fact, the picture nods to the dark fairy tale Hansel and Gretel in the wraparound segment, which sees young Timmy (Matthew Lawrence) kidnapped by a witch (Deborah Harry) with designs on preparing him for dinner. As a manner of staving off the inevitable, Timmy reads the witch three of his favorite stories from a macabre tome. Each tale is then realized as a separate vignette.
Each Tales from the Darkside segment has its own collective merits. But the standout for me is the first. Based on the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle story of the same name, ‘Lot 249’ tells the tale of Edward (Steve Buscemi) a college student who enlists the services of a mummified corpse to get revenge on two students by whom he has been double-crossed!
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Julianne Moore plays Susan, one of the students who betrayed Edward. She proves quite effective in her villainous turn. She is cold and calculating, making it quite fun to see her character get her just desserts when the time comes. Christian Slater also turns in a memorable showing as Susan’s brother Andy. He starts as Edward’s level-headed roommate but ultimately takes on a much darker role as the story unfolds.
It might be interesting to see ‘Lot 249’ fleshed out to feature-length. While the story works beautifully as a vignette contained within Tales from the Darkside: The Movie, there is enough there to go a bit deeper. The same, however, cannot be said of the film’s second segment, ‘Cat from Hell’.
I don’t mean to suggest that ‘Cat from Hell’ gets everything wrong. It’s silly and funny and occasionally scary. But this adaptation of a Stephen King short story is not quite as compelling as its predecessor. ’Cat from Hell’ is the weakest of the bunch. It is a bit tonally imbalanced and never quite achieves the level of terror found in the other two segments.
Criticisms aside, there is something inherently entertaining about the idea of a killer feline. Moreover, the cat is set up to be the anti-hero of this vignette, seeing as how the primary human characters aren’t particularly engaging and each of them lacks scruples.
So, while ‘The Black Cat’ is the weakest vignette in this anthology effort, it still manages to be enjoyable. Not to mention, there is a sequence that sees a cat smothering a human and then entering this body. Suffice to say this stands as a work of brilliance from the team at KNB EFX!
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The third vignette, ‘Lover’s Vow’, is a compelling tale of love and loss. We meet Preston (James Remar), a struggling artist, shortly before he crosses paths with a ruthless and violent demon-like creature (which is painstakingly brought to life using old-school practical effects). At the creature’s request, Preston agrees never to speak of the encounter to anyone. Shortly thereafter, he meets Carola (Rae Dawn Chong), and he falls madly in love.
Preston ultimately finds himself torn between his promise to the demon-creature and his desire to be transparent with the woman he loves. That sense of inner turmoil looms over the segment. It’s clear that Carola makes Preston very happy. But it is also apparent that he is conflicted about keeping a secret from her.
The conclusion to this segment is tragic but matches perfectly with the picture’s bleak tone. However, if you count yourself a sucker for a happy ending, you were likely pleased with the way the wraparound segment shakes out.
Ultimately, Tales from the Darkside serves up an impressive cast and pretty amazing effects work, courtesy of the team at KNB. So, next time you’re in the mood for an anthology picture, don’t forget to give Tales from the Darkside some love.
If you’re a fan of the film and want to chat more, you can find me on Twitter, @FunWithHorror. If you’re not a fan of the film, you are still able to find me on Twitter. But only to say nice things, please.
Categorized:Editorials Retrospectives
